Clawson Wins Special Election Primary

Busi­ness­man Curt Clawson (R) won the Re­pub­lic­an primary in the race for former Rep. Trey Radel’s seat, tak­ing 38 per­cent of the vote. State Sen­ate Ma­jor­ity Lead­er Lizbeth Ben­ac­quisto (R) took 26 per­cent, former state Rep. Paige Kree­gel (R) took 25 per­cent, and avi­ation con­sult­ant Mi­chael Dreikorn (R) took 11 per­cent. Clawson will be the fa­vor­ite over pub­lic re­la­tions firm own­er April Free­man (D) in the June 24 spe­cial elec­tion.

In his vic­tory speech, Clawson called for party unity, while lament­ing the neg­at­ive nature of the race. “It was am­bi­tion over truth, rat­ings over le­git­im­acy,” Clawson said. “But we are past this. I took the ar­rows and I am past this. This is over, OK?” (Naples Daily News)

Clawson was en­dorsed by the State Tea Party Ex­press, and his win is a vic­tory for tea party groups and oth­er “out­sider” can­did­ates. The Tea Party Pat­ri­ots Cit­izens Fund re­leased a state­ment say­ing the win “shows that voters are listen­ing, and that the core prin­ciples of per­son­al free­dom, eco­nom­ic free­dom and a debt-free fu­ture are win­ning is­sues.” (re­lease)

It is also en­cour­aging for self-fund­ing can­did­ates, con­sid­er­ing Clawson spent $2.65 mil­lion of his own money to over­come Ben­ac­quisto’s and Kree­gel’s su­per PAC sup­port. Clawson’s “vic­tory could be good news for the oth­er Re­pub­lic­an self-fun­ders on the bal­lot this year, many of whom have primar­ies com­ing up: Dav­id Per­due, run­ning in the crowded Geor­gia Sen­ate field; Mark Jac­obs, one of a hand­ful of GOP Sen­ate can­did­ates in Iowa; and Mike Mc­Fad­den, run­ning in a com­pet­it­ive Sen­ate primary in Min­nesota. Like Clawson, all three are polit­ic­al neo­phytes us­ing their wealth to beat their op­pon­ents on the air and build their pro­files.” (Politico)

"Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Agency who has found himself and his agency at odds with the Trump administration in recent months, told staff members Tuesday that he is planning to step down from his post." The Obama administration holdover will step down on October 1.

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HAD BEGUN TO PUBLICLY CRITICIZE TRUMP

Sen. Corker to Retire

1 hours ago

THE DETAILS

Another Republican member of Congress is showing himself out the door. After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018,” said Sen. Bob Corker in a statement. The Tennessean has served since 2006.

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NOT ILLEGAL, BUT MUST BE FORWARDED TO WORK ACCOUNTS

At Least 6 WH Advisors Used Private Email Accounts

2 hours ago

THE LATEST

Jared Kushner, Stephen Bannon, Reince Priebus, Gary Cohn, Stephen Miller, and Ivanka Trump sent or received some emails on personal accounts that related to White House business. "Officials are supposed to use government emails for their official duties so their conversations are available to the public and those conducting oversight. But it is not illegal for White House officials to use private email accounts as long as they forward work-related messages to their work accounts so they can be preserved."

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SAYS CONTACTS WERE “BENIGN”

Stone Releases Correspondence with Guccifer 2.0

2 hours ago

THE LATEST

"Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to Donald Trump, released correspondence Tuesday" with the online hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 , which "U.S. intelligence agencies said was used by Russian government-linked entities to distribute embarrassing information about Democrats during the 2016 election. The disclosures came in a 47-page opening statement made available to reporters in advance of Mr. Stone’s Tuesday appearance in front of the House Intelligence Committee." Stone called his contacts with Guccifer "limited" and "benign."

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PRIEBUS, SPICER, HICKS, MCGAHAN

Mueller Could Start Interviewing White House Figures This Week

2 hours ago

THE LATEST

"Special counsel investigators could start interviewing current and former White House staff as soon as later this week regarding the Russian probe, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. One source cautioned it is still being worked out with Robert Mueller's office and said it might be delayed until next week." Among those who could have a sit-down with the special prosecutor: former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former press secretary Sean Spicer, communications director Hope Hicks, White House counsel Don McGahn, communications adviser Josh Raffel and associate counsel James Burnham.